Iff-  d 


*  •  * 

I  ALUMNI  LIBRARY,  % 

^  •               ■  ^ 

I  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,  | 

t  1 

*  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  * 
Tl            CV/.sT,     ^r/ijjon....; j. 


£<CC- 


/ 


BELITEHED    IN  TUE 


MIDDLE   CHURCH,  NEW  HAVEN,  CON.   SEPT.  12,  1822, 
AT  THE 

OF   THE  HEV.   MESSaS. 

WILLIAM  GOODELL,  WILLIAM  RICHARDS, 

AND 

ARTEMAS  BISHOP, 

AS 

EVANGELISTS   AND    MISSIONARIES 

TO 
THE    HEATHEN, 


BY  SAMUEL  MILLER,  D.  D. 

Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government,  in  the  Theological  Scminar'j 
ojthc  Prcsbijterian  Church,  in  the  United  States,  at  Princeton,  2^.  J. 


BOSTON: 

OHOCKER    AND    BBEWSTEU,    NO.     50,    C0IINUI1.L. 

1822. 


SERMON. 


Isaiah  Ixi,  4. 
Andthey  shall  build  the  old  wastes;  they  shall  raise  up  the  former  deso- 
lations; and  they  shall  repair   the  waste   cities,  the   desolations  of 
many  generations. 

Our  blessed  Saviour,  in  the  Synagogue  at  JVazareth, 
expressly  decided  that  these  words  refer  to  Gos- 
pel times,  and  to  the  benign  influence  of  his  ministry 
and  his  truth.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  the  primary 
reference  of  the  verse  immediately  under  considera- 
tion is  to  the  return  of  the  Jews  from  captivity  in 
Babylon,  and  the  restoration  of  their  lands  and  cities, 
Avhich  had  been  long  lying  desolate,  to  a  state  of  pros- 
perity. But  no  one,  I  think,  can  doubt,  that  it  has  a  far 
wider  scope,  and  is  intended  to  convey  an  infinitely 
more  precious  meaning.  The  Saviour  himself  is  here 
introduced  as  the  speaker.  He  refers  to  his  own 
coming  in  the  flesh,  and  to  the  calling  of  the  gentiles. 
He  exhibits  himself  as  anointed,  or  set  apart,  to  be  the 
Friend  and  Restorer  of  ruined  man;  to  preach  good 
iidino\s  to   the  meek;    to  bind  up   the   broken   hearted; 


to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives^  and  the  opening  of  the 
prison  to  them  that  are  bound;  to  be  the  Comforter  of 
onourners;  to  give  them  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy 
^or  mourning,  and  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of 
heaviness. 

But  the  effects  of  the  Redeemer's  ministry  -were 
not  to  terminate  with  his  personal  presence  on  earth. 
He  not  onlj  declares  that  He  is  to  enlighten,  to  restore, 
to  sanctify,  and  to  elevate  the  subjects  of  his  immedi- 
ate gracious  ministrations;  but  that  those  who  are  thus 
brought  into  the  church,  and  saved  by  his  mighty 
power,  are  to  be  made,  in  their  turn,  instruments  for 
converting  and  saving  others.  These  converts,  he  in- 
forms us,  shall  not  only  be  called  themselves,  Trees  of 
righteousness,  the  planting  of  the  Lord,  that  He  maybe 
glorified;  but  they  shall  build  the  old  wastes;  they  shall 
raise  up  the  former  desolations,  and  they  shall  repair  the 
waste  cities,  the  desolo.tions  of  many  generations. 

We  have,  in  these  words,  two  subjects,  which  de- 
mand our  attention;  both  of  which  appear  to  me  to 
form  topics  of  address  appropriate  to  the  solemn  oc- 
casion on  which  we  are  convened. 

First — the  condition  of  those  who  are  destitute 
of  the  blessfngs  avhich  the  saviour  has  to  bestow. 
And, 

Secondly — the  promise  that  they  shall  be  de- 
livered   FROM   this    condition;    and    the    means    by 

WHICH    THEIR    DEUVERANCE    SHALL    BE    EFFECTED. 

I.  Let  us  contemplate  the  condition  of  those  who  are 
destitute  of  the  light  and  the  sanctifying  energy  of  the 
Gospel.  They  are  represented,  in  our  text,  as  in  a 
state  of  ^^waste,^^  and  ^^ desolation.''^     They  shall  build 


i(p  the  old  wastes,  they  shall  repair  the  desolations  of 
many  generations. 

This  representation  applies,  not  only  to  the  ancient 
covenant  people  of  God;  but  also  to  all  the  heathen 
nations,  and,  in  general,  to  all  who  are  strangers  to  the 
light  and  the  practical  influence  of  our  holy  religion. 

When  we  speak  of  the  ^^old  ivastcs,''^  and  of  the 
''^desolations  of  many  generations,''^  we,  of  course,  mean 
to  convey  the  idea,  that  the  places,  or  the  people  of 
which  we  speak,  were  once  in  more  favorable  circum- 
stances; thatthey  once  enjoyed  advantages  which  they 
no  longer  possess;  and,  in  consequence,  have  sunk  into 
darkness  and  ruin.  Now  this  representation  precise- 
ly corresponds  v\^ith  plain,  undoubted  fact.  When  we 
take  the  slightest  survey  of  the  history  of  our  fallen 
race,  Ave  shall  see  that  very  precious  privileges  and 
blessings  have  been,  at  different  times,  either  actually 
enjoyed  by  all  the  famihes  of  the  earth,  or  placed  fair- 
ly within  their  reach:  and  that  these  blessings  have 
been  either' ungratel'ully  rejected,  or  stupidly  squan- 
dered away  and  lost.  In  reply,  therefore,  to  the  old 
and  impious  cavil, — "Why  has  not  God  given  the 
Gospel  to  all  mankind?"  we  may  confidently  assert, 
and  appeal  to  history  for  an  ample  confirmation  of  the 
fact,  that  he  has,  from  time  to  time,  imparted  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  religion  to  the  whole  human 
family;  so  that  they  are  altogether  ivithout  excuse. 

That  the  knowledge  of  the  true  method  of  salva- 
tion was  imparted  to  our  First  Parents,  no  christian 
will  deny.  They  were  originally  formed  in  a  state  not 
only  of  immaculate,  but  of  high  perfection.  Brought 
into  existence   in  the  perfect  maturity  of  all  their 


6 

powers;  in  the  image  of  God;  with  a  happy  balance 
between  their  sensitive,  intellectual  and  moral  facul- 
ties; surrounded  with  ample  light,  and  with  all  those 
expressions  of  Divme  love,  which  are  adapted  to 
make  creatures  blessed;  their  happiness  w^as  without 
interruption  or  alloj.  Reposing  under  the  "blissful 
bowers  of  paradise,"  all  was  innocence,  all  was  enjoy- 
ment, and  every  creature  was  a  minister  to  their  com- 
fort. Nor  was  this  all.  No  sooner  had  their  Creator 
made  them,  than  he  began  to  speak  to  them,  and,  of 
course,  immediately  to  instruct  them  in  language  (the 
real  origin,  I  have  no  doubt,  of  articulate  speech,)  in 
all  their  duties  to  Himself  and  to  one  another;  and  in 
every  thing  necessary  to  their  temporal  and  eternal 
happiness.  I  am  aware  that  some  theoretical  philos- 
ophers have  given  a  very  different  representation  of 
this  matter.  They  contend  that  the  original  state  of 
man  was  exceedingly  degraded:  that  he  occupied  a 
rank,  at  first,  little  if  any  above  that  of  the  beasts  of 
the  field:  that  all  intelligence,  the  power  of  communi- 
cating his  thoughts  by  speech,  and  even  his  erect  pos- 
ture, are  the  result  of  his  own  long  continued  efforts; 
and  that  having,  by  his  own  exertions,  gradually  es- 
caped from  the  state  of  brutality,  silence  and  solitude 
in  which  he  was  originally  found;  he  is  in  a  constant 
course  of  improvement,  by  the  same  exertions,  which 
will  ultimately  issue  in  a  state  of  perfection  in  this 
world.  I  will  only  stop  to  say,  that  all  this  is  as  con- 
trary to  sober,  uninspired  history,  as  it  is  to  the  Word 
of  God.  The  latter  distinctly  informs  us,  that  the 
primitive  state  of  man,  with  respect  to  his  intellectual, 
moral,  and  social  character,  was  the  highest  that  he 


has  ever  enjoyed,  or  ever  will  enjoy  on  this  side  of 
heaven;  and  that,  since  the  fall,  his  natural  course, 
when  left  to  himself,  is  not  to  rise  in  knowledge,  virtue 
and  enjoyment;  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  sink  deeper 
and  deeper  into  darkness,  corruption  and  misery.  And 
this  testimony,  I  fearlessly  assert,  is  amply  confirmed 
by  all  other  authentick  records,  so  far  as  they  speak  at 
all  on  the  subject. 

When  our  guilty  Progenitors  had  broken  the  law  of 
their  God;  had  ungratefully  trampled  on  their  most 
precious  privileges;  and  had  lost  their  innocence,  and 
with  it  every  blessing;  the  God  of  all  grace  did  not,  as 
He  might  justly  have  done,  inexorably  cast  them  off. 
The  fall  had  scarcely  occurred,  before  a  method  of 
deliverance  was  announced,  as  wonderful  as  it  was 
gracious.  In  the  first  promise,  we  see  the  first  dawn 
of  Gospel  light,  the  first  pledge  of  Gospel  blessings. 
Adam  was  placed  under  a  dispensation  of  mercy.  A 
visible  church  was  founded  in  his  family,  of  which  he 
and  his  partner  in  sin,  together  with  their  children, 
were  members.  Sacrifices  were  offered,  in  obedience 
to  God,  and  in  token  of  their  humble  acquiescence  in 
the  terms  of  the  new  covenant  under  which  they  were 
placed;  and  the  Lord  smelled  a  sweet  savor  in  the  con- 
trition and  offerings  of  his  penitent  children. 

But  again  was  the  Divine  goodness  abused,  and  his 
authority  trampled  under  {eet.  The  light  of  the 
primitive  revelation,  though  at  first  respectfully  re- 
ceived, became  less  and  less  regarded.  The  true  Re- 
ligion gradually  lost  its  hold  on  the  hearts  and  lives  of 
men;  and  unbridled  sin,  and  its  necessary  offspring, 
misery,  soon  began  to  gain  a  melancholy  prevalence. 


8 

Even  during  the  lives  of  our  first  Parents,  who,  no 
doubt,  faithfully  instructed  and  exhorted  their  poster- 
ity, impiety,  crime  and  suffering  awfully  reigned. 
Men  set  at  nought  counsel  and  rebuke.  All  flesh  cor- 
rupted their  way.  The  earth  was  filled  with  violence. 
Among  the  immense  and  highly  cultivated  population 
of  the  ante-diluvian  world,  (for  such  there  can  be  little 
doubt  it  was)  Jehovah  was  generally  forgotten,  or  re- 
membered only  to  be  insulted.  Here  and  there  a 
pious  man,  like  a  few  feeble  and  glimmering  stars  in  a 
dark  night,  only  served  to  render  the  surrounding 
darkness  more  intense  and  melancholy.  Enochs  and 
afterwards  JVoah,  and  probably  others,  taught  and 
warned  in  vain.  Until,  at  length,  the  wickedness  of 
men  rose  to  such  an  enormous  height,  that  a  Being  of 
infinite  wisdom  and  benevolence  determined  to  destroy 
the  world  of  the  ungodly  by  a  flood.  Only  a  single 
family  of  all  the  corrupt  millions  on  our  globe  escaped; 
and  even  of  that  family,  a  part  only  appear  to  have 
been  truly  pious. 

After  the  Deluge,  the  moral  and  religious  interests 
of  men  were  placed  upon  a  new  footing,  and  commen- 
ced a  new  career,  with  more  favorable  prospects. 
The  visible  Church  was  continued  in  the  family  of 
JVoahy  with  additional  light  and  privilege,  with  ad- 
ditional covenant  engagements,  and  with  addi- 
tional experience  of  the  evil  of  sin,  and  the  neces- 
sity of  unreserved  obedience.  That  this  religious 
knowledge  was  imparted,  in  all  its  fulness,  to  the  pos- 
terity of  J\foah,  for  several  generations,  there  can  be 
no  reasonable  doubt;  and,  of  course,  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth  were,  once  more,  instructed  in  the  true 


lleiigion,  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  such  it  really 
then  was,  the  same  in  substance  as  at  the  present  day. 
And  who  would  not  have  expected  this  precious  de- 
posit to  be  gratefully  retained,  and  sacredly  transmit- 
ted to  the  remotest  posterity?  But,  alas!  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  earth  almost  immediately  commenced 
aojain  the  down-hill  course.  Instruction  and  warnino- 
•were  vain.  Even  the  terrors  of  the  Deluge  were  soon 
forgotten.  The  religion  which  came  out  of  the  ark, 
before  the  last  of  the  occupants  of  that  ark  was  dead, 
seems  to  have  nearly  vanished  from  the  earth.  For- 
getfulness  of  God;  gross  idolatry;  moral  corruption; 
and  all  their  attendant  evils  of  discord,  strife  and  war, 
overspread  the  nations;  and  rendered  necessary 
another  interposition  on  the  part  of  the  most  High 
to  save  the  church  from  utterly  perishing. 

When  Jehovah  chose  for  himself  a  peculiar  People; 
— when  He  committed  to  them  his  truth  and  his  ordi- 
nances;— when  He  recorded  his  name,  and,  from  time 
to  time,  displayed  his  glory  among  them,  they  bo- 
came,  at  once,  a  Light  and  a  Warning  to  all  the  sur- 
rounding nations.  But  did  the  world  profit,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  by  all  these  means  of  instruction; 
by  all  these  proclamations  of  the  way  of  mercy  by  a 
Saviour  to  come?  No;  far  from  it!  the  corrupt  Canaan- 
ites;  the  refined  and  scientific  Egyptians;  the  idol- 
atrous nations  round  about  Palestine;  the  polished  and 
splendid  Babylonians,  Persiaiis,  Greeks  and  Romans — 
all — all,  in  succession,  turned  their  backs  on  the  offers 
of  mercy;  hardened  themselves  against  God;  and 
chose  darkness  rather  than  light.  The  multiplied  and 
most  impressive  miracles  which  Jehovah  wrought  for 
2 


10 

the  support  of  his  truth,  in  the  sight  of  the  nations,  in 
Egypt,  at  the  Red  Sea,  in  the  ivilderness,  and  in  Canaan, 
were  regarded  only  with  stupifying  terror,  or  harden- 
ing rage.     And  even  when,  at  length,  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures    were  translated  into  the  most   rich, 
polished,  and  cxtensivelj   diffused   language    then    on 
earth,  and  thus  the  knowledge  of  the  Sacred  Oracles 
conveyed  to  many  thousands,  perhaps  millions,  of  the 
most  enlightened  and  reflecting  part  of   the  heathen 
world; — still  the   Church   of  God    seems  to  have  re- 
ceived no  cordial  accessions  from  that  quarter.     The 
word  of  life  seems  to  have  been  studied  only  by  their 
Literati;  and  by  them  as,  at  best,  only  a  curious   his- 
tory,  or    a   singular,  superstitious  fable.      With   one 
accord  they  closed  their  eyes  against  its  precious  light, 
and  sunk  down  into  the   most  deplorable   moral  cor- 
ruption and  desolation.     So  that,  when    the  Saviour 
came  in  the  flesh,  whatever  lustre  the  refmements  of 
luxury,  the  ingenuity  and  elegance  of  art,  or  the  splen- 
dours of  literature  and  science,  may  have  shed  on  a  icw 
countries — on    Egypt,  Babylon,    and  Syria;  on  v4sia 
Minor,  Greece,  and  Italy,  the  whole  world  was,  with- 
out exception,  a  spiritual  ^'■waste.^^     Even  the  Chosen 
People  of  God  had  sunk  into  the  most  humiliating  cor- 
ruption and  degradation.     In  whatever  direction  the 
eye  of  piety  was  turned,  men  were  seen  to  have  fallen 
ignobly  from  their  high  privileges,  and  to  have  become, 
even  where  society  appeared  in  its  best  form,  a  mass 
of  splendid  putrefaction  and   ruin.     The  Jews,  with 
the  Word  of  God  in  their  hands,  had  become,  in  some 
respects,  worse   than  the    surrounding   heathen;  and 
the  latter,  with  all  their  boasted  wisdom,  had  never 


11 

been  able  to  reach  that  great,  fundamental  fact,  on 
which  all  revealed  religion  rests,  that  there  is  but  One 
God,  the  maker  of  heaven  and  earth;  or  rather,  it  had 
been  imparted  to  them,  but  they  lost  it  again  and 
again.  JYot  liking  to  retain  God — mark  that  expres- 
sion— JYot  UKiNG  to  RETAIN  God  ill  their  knowledge. 
He  gave  them  up  to  a  reprobate  mind,  leaving  them  to  a 
wretched  system  of  Polytheism,  on  which  the  merest 
babe  in  Christ  looks  back  with  wonder  and  horror,  and 
which  produced  etfects  worthy  of  its  character.  Their 
very  religion  directly  inculcated  and  nurtured,  pride, 
ambition,  malevolence,  cruelty,  deceit,  and  sensuality; 
and  thus,  instead  of  promoting  their  happiness,  was 
constantly  dragging  them  still  lower  in  crime  and 
wretchedness. 

But,  in  these  deplorable  circumstances,  in  a  manner 
still  more  marvellous  than  ever,  did  a  gracious  God 
again  interpose,  for  the  benefit  of  the  human  family. 
A  Messenger  more  dignified,  and  a  light  more  abun- 
dant, than  before,  were  presented  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth.  In  the  fulness  of  time,  the  Desire  of  all 
nations  came,  and  completed  that  great  Sacrifice  for 
sin,  which  had  been  so  long  the  object  of  prayer  and 
expectation.  Now  the  meridian  light  of  Gospel  day 
shone  on  the  church.  That  which  had  been  before 
taught  under  types  and  shadows,  was  now  manifest- 
ed with  unveiled  glory.  And  that  which  had  been 
Iiitherto,  chiefly  confined  to  a  single  nation,  was  now 
directed  to  be  proclaimed  to  all  people.  Accordingly, 
the  command  of  the  Saviour  to  his  apostles,  when  he 
left  the  world,  was,  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature.     This  command  was.  in 


12 

somo  good  measure,  obeyed.     Within  two  centuries, 
the  Gos{Del   was  preached,  and  large  and  respectable 
Christian  churches  formed,  in  almost  all  parts   of  the 
then    known    world.     And    who   that   witnessed    the 
triumphs  of  the  cross,  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  and 
of  their  immediate  successors,  could  have  doubted  for 
a  moment,  that,  long  before   this   time,  the    Church, 
glorious  in  strength  and  beauty,  would  have  been  the 
joy  of  the  whole  earth?  In  fact  if  Christian  parents, 
and  Christian  ministers,  in  early  and  subsequent  times, 
had   not  been  awfully  unfaithful  to    themselves  and 
their  solemn  trust,   the  religion   of  Jesus  Christ  had, 
long  since,  covered  our  globe.     And  that  it  is  not  so, 
is  the  sin  as  well  as  the  misery  of  man  himself,  and  not 
the  fault  of  God.      As  long  as  the  Gospel  was  preach- 
ed with  zeal,  in   its  simplicity  and  purity,  it  had  free 
course  and  was  glorified.     But   when  Christians  began 
to    grow    cold   and  selfish;  Avhen   they    divided  into 
sects  and  parties;   when  the  ministers  of  Christ  began 
to  waste   their  strength  in  doting  about  questions  and 
strifes  of  words,  or  in  contests  about  titles  and  places; 
when  they  began  to  adulterate  the   doctrines  of  the 
Gospel  with  the  refinements  of  philosophy  Jalsely  so 
called;   when  Emperors   and   Kings  perverted  the  re- 
ligion of  Christ  into  an  engine  of  state;  and  when  those 
■who   ought    to    have   been  propagating  the    Gospel 
abroad,  found  abundant  employment  at  home,  in  con- 
triving uncommanded  rites  and  forms,  in  struggling  for 
power  and  wealth,  and  in  toiling  through  the  childish 
fooleries  of  superstition;  then,   indeed,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  the  ardour  of  missionary  zeal  rapidly 
declined;  the    progress  of   truth    was  arrested;    the 


13 

Daughter  of  Zion  was  covered  with  a  cloud;  and  the 
nations  called  christian,  instead  of  prizing  the  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  had  made  them  free,  willingly  subject- 
ed themselves  to  the  yoke  of  bondage,  and  gave  their 
strength  and  power  to  the  Beast. 

And  here  it  may  be  worthy  of  notice,  as  we  pass 
along,  that  there  has  always  been  a  tendency  in  man 
to  add  to  the  appointments  of  heaven,  under  the 
notion  of  rendering  them  more  popular  and  acceptable. 
It  seems  to  have  been  an  opinion  entertained  by  many, 
in  all  ages,  that  a  dress  of  superstitious  trappings  is 
necessary  as  a  kind  of  vehicle  for  the  truth;  "that  a 
"simple  and  rational  religion  cannot  attract  and  fix  the 
"mass  of  mankind;  that  either  pageantry,  or  mysti- 
"cism,  or  both,  must  be  employed,  if  we  would  mipress 
"the  minds  of  the  generality  of  men;  in  short,  that 
"the  common  people  must  be,  in  some  degree,  deceiv- 
"ed  for  their  sfood."  But  never  was  there  a  more 
wretched  mistake.  As  long  as  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ  retained  its  primitive  simplicity,  both  in  doc- 
trine and  ritual,  it  made,  as  has  been  said,  rapid  pro- 
gress; and  wherever  it  found  its  way,  demonstrated, 
that  it  was  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.  Amidst 
the  sneers  of  the  wise,  the  frowns  of  the  mighty,  and 
the  terrors  of  martyrdom,  it  went  on  conquering  and 
to  conquer.  But  when  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel 
gave  place  to  the  inventions  of  men,  Christianity  im- 
mediately declined.  It  lost  its  power  over  the  hearts 
and  lives  of  men.  It  fell,  if  I  may  so  speak,  by  its  own 
weight.  Just  in  proportion  as  it  was  divested  of  its 
genuine  character,  its  progress  was  retarded:  until,  at 
length,  the  missionary  spirit,  and  missionary  triumphs 


14 

of  primitive  times,  were  no  longer  known  in  the  church 
— Proclaiming  to  us  the  decisive  and  wholesome 
lesson,  that  we  are  never  so  likely  to  succeed  in  the 
propagation  of  the  Gospel,  as  when  we  hold  it  forth 
in  all  its  native  simplicity,  without  attempting  to  make 
it  better,  or  other,  than  our  Master  left  it  in  his 
word. 

Alas!  what  a  scene  of  spiritual  desolation  at  this 
hour  broods  over  the  greater  part  of  Christendom,  in 
consequence  of  acting  on  a  different  principle!  The 
wisdom  of  this  tuorld,  which  is  ever  Joolishness  loilh 
God,  with  the  view  of  adorning  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  recommending  it  to  the  world,  has  gone 
on,  step  by  step,  to  load  and  deform  it  by  additions, 
and  to  pollute  it  by  unhallowed  admixtures,  until  it  is 
no  longer  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God;  until  it  has 
lost  all  that  attraction  and  power  which  once  caused 
it  to  triumph  among  the  heathen;  and  until,  indeed, 
it  is  no  longer,  as  some  calling  themselves  christians 
present  it,  worth  the  acceptance  of  the  heathen.  To 
this  it  is,  no  doubt,  owing,  that,  since  the  rise  of  the 
Papal  Beast,  the  Gospel,  in  the  hands  of  its  votaries, 
has  made  absolutely  no  conquests  which  deserve  to  be 
set  down  to  the  score  of  Christianity.  To  this,  in  a 
great  measure,  is  it  owing,   that,  to  the  present  hour, 

but  LITTLE  MORE  THAN  A  FIFTH  PART  OF  MANKIND  SO 
MUCH    AS    BEAR    THE    CHRISTIAN    NAME;    aild  that,    of   this 

small   portion,  probably  two  thirds,  at  least,  need 

INSTRUCTION  IN  THE  GOSPEL  ALMOST  AS  MUCH  AS  THE 
BENIGHTED    PAGANS    THEMSELVES. 

The  '"'■wastes^''  and  the  '^desolations'''  spoken  of  in 
our  text,  are  called  "old  wastes,"  the  ^'desolations  of 


15 


MANY  GENERATIONS."     Aiid  trulj,  if  thls  language  were 
proper  in  the  days   of  the   Prophet,  it    is  still  more 
emphatically  proper  at  the   present  day.     Age  after 
age  have   this  darkness,   depravity    and   misery  been 
brooding  over  the  nations.     One  blind   and   corrupt 
o-eneration  after  another    has  existed   iis    little  day, 
and  then  passed  off  the  stage,  to  make  way  for  the 
following,  as   dark,  as   corrupt,    and  as  miserable  as 
themselves.     Who   that  remembers   how   early,  and 
how   long,  the  children  of  Abraham  enjoyed  the  light 
oj'  life— the  adoption,  and  the  glory,  and  the  giving  of 
the  law,  and  the  promises,— cm  avoid  weeping   over 
that  righteous  dispensation  of  God,  by  which,  for  so 
many  centuries,  they  have    been  scattered  abroad,  a 
hissing  and  a  bye-word,  among  all  nations;  without  a 
temple,  without  a  priest,  without  a  sacrifice,  and  with- 
out a  ruler?   Who  that  recollects  what  Jerusalem  Avas, 
when   Solomon   wielded    the   sceptre    of   his    father 
David,  can  avoid    the  most   melancholy    reflections, 
when  he  beholds  it,  according  to  the   Divine  predic- 
tion, so  completely  trodden  doivn  of  the  gentiles?  Who 
that  has  read  of   the  large    and  flourishing  churches, 
which   were  once  the  glory    of  Jntioch  and  Ephesus, 
of  Smyrna  and  Sardis,  of  Corinth  and  Philippi,  can 
forbear    to  mourn   with   bitterness  over  them    now, 
when  their  glory  is  departed,  and  when  their  very  light 
is  as  darkness?    How  many  ages,  too,  have  elapsed, 
since  the  millions   who   follow   the  false   prophet  of 
Mecca,  have  been  slumbering,  the  miserable  victims  of 
imposture,  sunk  under  the  blinding  and  degrading  in- 
fluence of  error,   and  of  those  wretched  vices,  which 
error  naturally   generates!    Above  all,  how  long  and 


IG 

Jiow  sad  is  the  story  of  Pagan  '•^desolation!''''  Truly  it  is 
an  ''OLD  WASTE,"  the  '--desolation  of  many  generations.'"' 
Century  after  century — in  a  wor!d  on  which  the  hght 
of  the  Gospel  has  beamed — have  the  poor  Pagans 
been  going  on  in  the  same  melancholy  round,  living 
and  dying  without  God,  and  without  hope;  covered 
with  ignorance;  besotted  with  sensuality;  reeking  with 
crime;  bowing  doion  to  stocks  and  stones;  worshipping 
them  with  rites  cruel,  bloody,  impure,  or,  at  best, 
senseless;  strangers  to  rational  enjoyment  in  this  world, 
and  passing  every  day,  by  thousands,  with  prospects 
still  more  g-loomv.  into  the  world  to  come.  O  that 
ony  head  were  waters^  and,  mine  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears, 
that  I  might  weep  day  and  night  over  this  awful  ivastCs 
this  mighty  desolation! 

Can  we  contemplate,  my  Friends,  the  picture 
which  has  been  drawn — and  1  am  not  conscious  of 
having  added  a  single  shade  which  does  not  properly 
belons:  to  it — or  rather  I  am  conscious  of  havino;  fallen 
utterly  short  of  adequately  representing  its  dark  col- 
ours— Can  we  contemplate,  I  say,  such  a  picture, 
without  perceiving,  and  being  ready  to  acknowledge, 
in  all  its  humiliating  extent,  the  deep  depravity  of  our 
nature,  and  the  innate  tendency  of  man,  in  all  ages,  to 
depart  from  God,  and  from  true  dignity  and  happi- 
ness.'* Can  we  hesitate  a  moment  to  confess,  that  the 
children  of  men  are,  themselves,  wholly  to  blame,  for 
the  darkness  and  desolation  of  our  world;  that  we 
can  charge  no  part  of  it  on  the  Most  High;  that  they 
have  corrupted  themselves,  degraded  themselves, 
destroyed  themselves?  And  can  we  forbear,  while  we 
cast  an  eye  over  the  appalling  and   heart-sickening 


17 

scene,  to  ask,  with  the  deepest  interest.  Is  there  no 
hope?  Can  these  dry  bones  live?  Can  tliese  regions  of 
wide  spread  waste  and  death,  ever  be  restored  to  hfe 
and  health,  and  beauty  and  happiness?  Yes!  all  glory 
to  the  riches  of  Divine  love  and  mercy!  our  text 
gives  us  an  answer  at  once  decisive  and  animating. 
For  it  declares, 

II.  That  the  '•'■waste  places''^  which  have  been  de- 
scribed shall  be  "built  up,"  and  these  "/o»"-  desola- 
tions'"'  happily  "repaired."  And  it  also  inforais  us  bj 
"WHAT  MEANS  this  restoration  shall  be  effected. — To  a 
brief  consideration  of  this  part  of  our  subject  let  us 
now  proceed. 

That  there  is  a  time  coming,  when  this  world,  so 
long  the  theatre  of  rebellion  against  God,  and  of  all 
that  complicated  suffering  which  is  the  natural  off- 
spring of  such  rebellion, — shall  be  restored  to  the 
reign  of  truth,  and  purity,  and  peace  and  blessedness, 
is,  if  I  am  not  deceived,  the  almost  unanimous  expecta- 
tion of  all  who  bear  the  christian  name.  And  that 
this  blessed  renovation  of  our  world  will  appear,  in 
all  its  glory,  in  less  than  two  centuries  from  the 
present  time,  is  also,  if  I  mistake  not,  generally  agreed, 
even  among  those  who  place  it  at  the  greatest  dis- 
tance: and  some  pious  and  learned  interpreters  of 
prophecy  believe  that  it  is  nigh,  even  at  the  door.  Let 
no  despondency,  or  timidity,  or  secret  scepticism  lead 
any  one  to  doubt  whether  this  blessed  prospect"  will 
be  realized.  The  month  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it. 
The  Father  hath  given  to  the  Son,  from  eternity,  the 
heathen  for  his  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth  for  a  possession.     The  whole  earth  is  plainly 


18 

included  in  the  covenant  grant;  and  the  whole  earth 
shall,  assuredly,  be  included  in  the  promised  blessing. 
Hath  He  said  it,  and  shall  Fie  not  do  it?  Hath  He 
spoken,  and  shall  He  not  make  it  good?  Heaven  and 
earth  may  pass  away;  but  one  jot  or  tittle  shall  in  Jio 
wise  pass  from  his  promise,  till  all  he  fulfilled. 

Hear  what  the  Lord  hath  spoken!  The  Lord  of 
hosts  will  destroy  the  face  of  the  covering  cast  over  all 
people,  and  the  vail  that  is  spread  over  all  nations.*  The 
earth  shall  be  filled  ivith  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of 
the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.^  For  from  the 
rising  of  the  sun  even  unto  the  going  down  of  the  same, 
my  name  shall  be  great  among  the  Gentiles;  and  in  every 
place  shall  incense  be  offered  unto  my  name,  and  a  pure 
offering:  for  my  name  shall  be  great  among  the  heathen 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosis.'^  The  kingdoms  of  this  world 
shall  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ.^  For  He  must  reign  until  He  hath  put  all 
enemies  under  hisfect.^  The  wilderness  and  the  solitary 
place  shall  be  glad,  and  the  desert  shall  rejoice  and  blos- 
som as  the  rose.^  The  Lord  will  make  bare  his  arm  in 
the  sight  of  all  the  nations.  JVation  shall  not  lift  up  the 
sword  against  nation;  neither  shall  they  learn  war  any 
more.**  For  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  revealed, 
and  all  fiesh  shall  see  it  together,  for  the  mouth  of  the 
Lord  hath  spoken  it.*** 

These  precious  and  animating  Scriptures  have 
never  yet  been  fulfilled.  They  plainly  imply,  that 
the  period  is  approaching,  when  there  shall  be  a 
general  prevalence  of  the  profession  and  the  power 

•  /jfljViA  xxxv,  6, 7.  f  Habak.  a,  14.  i  iTnlachii,U.  \\  Revelation  \i,  IS, 

fl  Cor.  XV,  25.  ^ /icia/i  XXXV,  t.  *'  Isaiah  ii,  4.  ***  Isaiah  \i,S. 


19 


of  religion  over   the   whole  earth.     Not   that  every 
christian  will   then  be  perfect,  or  even  every  profes- 
sor of  piety,  truly  pious:  but  that  the  visible  church 
shall  fill  the  world;  that  all    infidelity,  heresy,  super- 
stition, profaneness,  and  open  vice,  shall  be  banished 
from   the   earth;  and  that  religion   shall   be   every 
where  honoured,  and  every  where  prosperous.     Be- 
fore the  accomplishment  of  these  predictions,  we  are 
assured  that  the  Mm  of  sin,  the  Son  ofperddion,  sha 
be  brouo-ht  down;  that  the  kingdom  of  Jntichnst  shall 
be  utterly   overthrown;  and  that   the   kings  of  the 
earth,  who  had  given  their  power  and  strength  to  the 
Mollier  of  harlots  and  abominations,  shM  then  hate  Aer, 
and  make  her  desolate,  and  burn  her  with  fire*  Another 
preliminary  to  the  introduction  of  this  glorious  day- 
to   be   accomplished  about  the  same   time    with    the 
destruction  of  the  Papal  power-is  bringing  to  an  end 
the  Mohammedan  imposture;  when  all  the  meleanspmts 
^hieh   have   been  east  out   of  the  mouth   of  the  false 
Prophet,  as  well  as  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  5eas(,  and 
which  have  gone  forth  deceiving  the  nations,  shall  be 
finally  destroyed.     These  events  will  prepare  the  way 
for  the    o-eneral    conversion  of  the  ancient  Covenant 
People  of  God;  (or  grafting   them  in  again  into  their 
own  Olive  tree,  from  vihieh  they  have  been  broken  off  by 

unbelief  AND  KESTORmO  THEM,  AS  A  BODY,  TO  THE 
POSSESSION   OF   THEIR   OWN    LAND.        For,    thus  saith    the 

Lord,  the  ehildren  of  Israel  shall  abide  many  days  with- 
out  a  kin,',  and  without  a  prince,  and  without  a  sacrifice, 
and  wilhmt  an  image,  and  without  an  ephod,  and  with- 
out  a  ttraphim.     But  afterward  they  shall  return,  and 


*  Revelation  xvii,  16. 


20 

seek  the  Lord  their  God,  and  David  their  king,  and  shall 
fear  the  Lord  and  his  goodness  in  the  latter  days*  And 
again;  Behold,  I  will  take  the  children  of  Israel  from 
among  the  heathen,  whither  they  be  gone,  and  I  will 
gather  them  on  every  side,  and  will  bring  them  into 
their  own  land.  Moreover,  I  will  make  a  covenant  oj* 
peace  with  them,  even  an  everlasting  covenant;  and  the 
heathen  shall  know  that  I,  the  Lord,  do  sanctify  Israel, 
when  my  sanctuary  5/ia//  be  in  the  midst  of  them  forever- 
more.'t  Again;  thus  saith  the  Lord  to  Israel — Whereas 
thou  hast  been  forsaken  and  hated,  so  that  no  man  went 
through  thee,  I  ivill  fnake  thee  an  eternal  excellency,  a  joy 
of  many  generations.  The  sons  also  of  them  that  abided 
thee,  shall  come  bending  unto  thee,  and  all  they  that  de- 
spised thee,  shall  bow  themselves  down  at  the  soles  of 
thy  feet;  and  they  shall  call  thee.  The  City  of  the  Lord, 
the  Zion  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.'^ 

And  allow  me  to  observe  here,  mj  Friends,  if  these 
things  be  so,  what  a  deep  and  affectionate  interest 
ought  christians  of  the  present  day  to  take  in  the 
children  of  Abraham,  still  beloved  for  the  Father''s  sake; 
and  in  that  Land  in  which  they  are  again  to  be 
gathered!  Surely  on  them,  and  on  that  country, 
which  we  may  still  call  their  land,  the  eyes  of  every 
disciple  of  Christ  ought  now  to  be  intently  fixed;  for 
them  his  prayers  ought  daily  to  ascend;  and  for  their 
conversion  every  friend  to  the  church  of  God,  and  to 
the  ultimate  happiness  of  man,  ought  to  be  willing  to 
contribute  and  to  labour   to  the  utmost.     For  until 

THE  JEWS  ARE  BROUGHT  IN,  TO  SAY  THE  LEAST,  THE 

*  Hosca  iii,  4, 5.  t  Exikkl  xxxvji,  22— 2S.  X  Istliah  Ix,  H,  15,  &c. 


21 


FULL    SPLENDOUR     OP     i\IILLE^•NIAL     GLORY     CANNOT     ARISE 
UPON    OUR    WORLD. 

The  conversion  of  the  Jews,  and  their  restoration  to 
their  own  land,  we  learn  from  the  sure  word  ofpropk- 
ccy,  shall  be  the  signal  for  the  universal  preaching  of 
the  Gospel,  and  the  bringing  in  of  all  the  gentile  nations. 
For,  says  the  apostle,  if  the  fall  of  Israel  be  the  riches 
of  the  world,  and  the  diminishing  of  them  the  riches  of 
the  gentiles,  how  much  more  their  fdness!  If  the  casting 
aivay  of  them  be  the  reconciUng  of  the  world,  ivhat  shall 
the  receiving  of  them  be  but  life  from  the  dead^*  For 
the  kingdom,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom,  under 
the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints 
of  the  Most  'High,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve  and 
obey  himA 

Blessed  renovation!  Happy  world!  when  these 
prospects,  in  which  the  Lord  causes  his  people  to  hope, 
shall  be  gloriously  realized!  I  will  not  attempt  to  de- 
scribe the  scenes  which  the  generations  of  the  millen- 
nium are  destined  to  witness.  I  dare  not  venture  on 
the  task.  Take  away  from  the  world  all  the  malig- 
nant and  violent  passions,  which  now  disquiet  and  de- 
grade the  children  of  men; — take  away  the  intemper- 
ance, the  impurity,  and  the  injustice,  which  are  daily 
destroying  individuals  and  families;  take  away  the 
bigotry,  party-spirit,  discord,  and  strife,  which  unceas- 
ingly agitate  society,  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  civil; — 
take  away  the  war,  famine,  pestilence,  oppression,  and 
slavery,  which  have  been,  for  so  many  generations, 
the  scourges  of  our  race; — take  away  earthquakes, 

» /?(»m/7nfx;,  12,15.  t  Dame!.\n,2-. 


22 

tempests,  drought,  blasting  and  mildew,  which  so 
often  destroy  'the  hopes  of  man: — take  away  all  these 
things — and  suppose  the  general  reign  of  truth, 
righteousness,  order  and  peace: — suppose  the  people 
of  God  every  where  to  see  eye  to  eye,  and  the  visible 
church  to  be  harmoniously  united  all  over  the  world: 
— suppose  the  earth  every  where  cultivated  and  fruit- 
ful— the  air  salubrious — the  seasons  always  favourable 
— tranquillity,  plenty,  temperance,  health  and  longev- 
ity, universally  to  prevail — and  all  accompanied  with 
constant  and  abundant  influences   of  the  Holy  Spirit, 

CONSTITUTING    ONE    CONTINUAL  AND  UNIVERSAL    REVIVAL. 

Imagine  a  scene  like  this;  and  then  say,  whether  our 
world,  during  such  a  period,  would  not  deserve  to  be 
called,  as  it  is  called  in  the  Sacred  Volume,  the  new 
heavens,  and  the  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteous- 
ness? Whether  it  would  not  deserve  to  be  considered 
what  it  is,  doubtless,  intended  to  be,  the  vestibule  of 
that  mansion  of  rest,  which  is  not  made  iviih  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens? 

But  by  WHAT  MEANS  shall  these  promises  be  fulfilled 
— these  blessed  prospects  reahzed? 

Not  by  the  mere  prevalence  and  power  of  human 
REASON.  Many,  who  profess  to  have  no  belief  in  the 
Christianas  millennium,  yet  dream  of  something  equiva- 
lent to  a  Pagan  Elysium  on  earth.  They  talk  of  the 
perfectability  of  man;  of  reaching  a  period  in  which 
all  diseases,  and  all  misery  shall  be  unknown;  and 
when  death  shall  be  no  more  triumphant  over  our  race. 
And  they  suppose  that  all  this  will  be  accomplished 
by  the  progress  and  influence  of  Reason,  gradually 
regenerating  and  restoring  the  world.     But  all  expe- 


23 

rlence,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Bible,  pronounces  this  a 
vain  hope.  The  experiment  has  been  making  on  the 
power  of  Reason  to  restrain,  purify,  and  elevate  man, 
for  nearly  six  thousand  years;  and  the  result  is  as 
mortifying  as  it  is  decisive.  All  that  it  could  ever 
accomplish,  by  its  best  influence,  was  to  soften  and 
polish,  but  not  to  remove,  the  moral  desolation:  to 
paint  and  whiten  the  sepulchre,  while  its  interiour  re- 
mained ^//et?  with  dead  men's  hones,  and  all  uncleanness. 
It  has  ever  been  a  fact,  and  will  ever  remain  a  fact, 
to  the  end  of  time,  that  the  world  by  wisdom  knows  not 
God.  Never  did  this  boasted  Reason  teach  a  single 
nation,  or  a  single  individual,  of  all  the  children  of  men, 
to  deny  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and  to  live  sober- 
ly, righteously,  and  godly,  in  this  present  evil  world. 

Nor  yet  again,  will  the  blessings  which  we  anticipate 
be  attained  by  the  progress  of  literature  and 
SCIENCE.  Although  when  sanctified,  that  is  consecra- 
ted by  real  religion,  literature  and  science  are  a  bless- 
ing— an  inestimable  blessing — yet  alone  they  never  led 
an  individual  to  true  holiness,  or  a  nation  to  virtue 
and  happiness: — A  fact  which  is  as  notorious,  as,  upon 
the  principle  of  the  sufficiency  of  natural  religion,  it  is 
incapable  of  a  satisfactory  solution.  If  it  had  been 
otherwise,  we  might  have  expected  always  to  find  the 
purest  rehgion  among  those  Pagan  nations,  who  carried 
the  refinements  of  literature  and  science  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  perfection.  But  was  this,  in  fact,  the  oase.^ 
Directly  the  reverse!  The  worship  of  the  Great  Spirit, 
by  the  American  or  African  savage,  is  unspeakably 
less  removed  from  the  simplicity  of  the  true  Religion, 


24 

than  the   thirty  thousand   deities   of  the   Greek  or 
Roman  philosopher. 

Quite  as  Httle  reason,  as  from  either  of  the  fore- 
going, have  we  to  expect  the  attainment  of  our  hopes 
by  the  restraining  and  regulating  efficacy  of  human 
LAWS.  Human  legislation  may  prohibit,  may  threaten, 
may,  to  a  certain  extent,  coerce;  but  its  utter — utter 
insufficiency  to  reach  the  seat  and  throne  of  human 
depravity, — to  purify  the  heart, — to  curb  the  restless 
appetites, — to  restrain  the  rage  of  clamorous  passions, 
— and  to  arrest  the  artful  plans,  and  busy  prowlings  of 
secret  villainy — has  been  painfully  felt  and  confessed 
in  every  age.  So  that  he  who  can  hope  for  any  effec- 
tual relief  from  this  quarter,  must  have  a  hardihood, 
not  to  say,  an  absurdity  of  credulity,  nearly  allied  to 
the  hallucination  of  the  bedlamite,  who,  on  his  pallet 
of  straw,  insists  that  he  is  hastening  to  the  occupancy 
of  a  throne. 

None  of  these  things,  then,  can  bring  on  the  latter- 
day  glory,  or,  by  themselves  essentially  meliorate  the 
condition  of  man  in  this  v^orld.  As  auxiliaries  they  are 
valuable — highly  valuable — and,  as  such,  will  certain- 
ly be  prized  by  every  enlightened  friend  of  human 
happiness.  But  they  cannot  be  the  chief  confidence 
of  anv  rational  man.  Nothing  can  be  considered  in 
this  light  but  the  Religion  of  Jesus  Christ; — the  glori- 
ous Gospel  of  the  blessed  God,  which  is  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  helieveth; — which 
alone  can  reach  the  heart — act  upon  its  inmost  re- 
cesses— purify  its  blackest  pollutions — and  controul  its 
fiercest  passions.  Men  may  dream  of  other  remedies; 
but  there  is  no  other  really  effectual  remedy   for  the 


25 

disease  of  man;  no  other  helper,  amidst  its  dismal 
ravages,  than  this.  His  disease  has  ever  absolutely 
laughed  to  scorn  all  other  remedies;  and  it  ever  will  laugh 
them  to  scorn.  But  here  is  effectual  help.  Here  and 
here  alone  we  find  light  for  human  darkness,  pardon 
for  human  guil  t,  cleansing  for  human  depravity,  con- 
solation for  human  sorrow,  strength  for  human  weak- 
ness, and  a  complete  Repairer  of  human  ruin.  Only 
suppose  the  principles  and  the  power  of  the  Religion 
of  Christ  to  be  universal,  and  this  world  would  exhibit, 
every  where,  a  foretaste  of  heaven.  They  shall  be 
universal.  The  mouth  of  the  Lord,  I  again  assert,  hath 
spoken  it.  Nor  shall  this  blessing  be  attained  without 
means — without  human  means.  It  is  by  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel,  by  men,  like  ourselves,  that  the 
prophetick  Scriptures  every  where  represent  it  as  to 
be  expected.  It  is  when  the  rod  of  Jehovah's  strength 
shall  he  sent  out  of  Zion,  that  the  nations  are  to  be 
made  willing  in  the  day  of  his  power. 

That  eminent  and  elegant  critick,  Bishop  Lowth, 
translates  the  former  part  of  our  text  thus — j^nd  they 
that  spring  from  thee — that  is,  from  the  children  of 
Abraham.,  when  converted  (for  to  them  the  prophecy 
■was  directed)  shall  build  up  the  ruins  of  old  times,  shall 
restore  the  ancient  desolations.  From  this  and  a  few 
other  passages,  in  the  Old  Testament,  some  pious  and 
learned  men  have  supposed,  that  the  great  body 
of  the  missionaries  who  shall  be  made  most  successful 
in  converting  the  gentile  nations  to  Mrahani's  God 
and  Saviour,  shall  be  converted  jews.  On  this  point 
I  shall,  at  present,  express  no  decisive  opinion.  It  is 
true,  that  some  of  the  Scriptures   usually  quoted  to 


26 

cstablisli  it,  may  be  considered  as  sufficiently  explained 
by  the  fact,  that  all  the  first  missionaries  employed  in 
propagating  the  Gospel,  both  before,  and  immediately 
after  our  Lord's  ascension,  were, native  Jews.  But 
other  passages  have  been  thought  not  very  naturally 
to  admit  of  this  explanation;  and,  of  course,  to  sug- 
gest the  opinion  just  mentioned.  I  cannot  help  re- 
garding the  opinion  as  having  some  degree  of  probabil- 
ity in  its  favour.  And,  certainly,  if  it  be  taught  in 
Scripture,  it  is  well  calculated,  on  various  accounts, 
deeply  to  interest  the  pious  mind. 

But  perhaps  it  will  be  asked,  what  reason  have  we 
to  expect  such  blessed  effects  from  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel  in  time  to  come.^*  We  have  seen  that  the 
same  Gospel  has  been,  long  since,  preached  to  all 
nations;  and  yet  it  has  been  generally  rejected;  and 
oh!  how  much  "luas^c"  and  ^'' desolation'''^  still  remain! 
What  reason  have  we,  then,  to  expect  a  more  favour- 
able result  in  future.'*  I  freely  acknowledge,  brethren, 
that,  on  the  principle  of  mere  human  calculation,  we 
have  no  such  reason.  If  we  had  no  other  ground  of 
confidence,  our  hopes  would  certainly  be  altogether 
extravagant.  But  our  expectations  are  founded  en- 
tirely on  the  promise  of  God.  The  promise  has 
passed  his  lips,  that  the  time  shall  soon  come,  when 
the  Gospel  shall  be  crowned  with  universal  success; 
when  the  complaint  shall  no  longer  be  made.  Who 
hath  believed  our  report?  and  to  whom  is  the  arm  of  the 
Lord  revealed?  Nay,  when  it  shall  be  so  universally  re- 
ceived that  it  shall  be  no  longer  necessary  for  men  to 
teach  every  one  his  neighbour^  and  every  one  his  brother, 
saying,  know  ye  the  Lord;  but  when  all  shall  know  him. 


27 


froYd  the  least  of  them  even  unto  the  greatest  of  them* 
Not  that  we  are  to  suppose,  that  when  the  Millennium 
opens,  ministers   will    no  longer   be  necessary.     This 
would  be  to  suppose,  that  the  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  will  then 
cease.     Whereas  the  whole  tenour  of  Scripture  leads 
to  the  conclusion,  that,  during  the  period  in  question, 
all  the  ordinances  of  religion  will  be  more  universally 
enjoyed,  and   more  highly  prized,  than   ever;    and, 
consequently,  that  the   ministers  of  religion  will  be 
more  numerous,  more  sought  after,  and  more  beloved, 
than  in  any  former  period.     The  children  of  men  will 
then  come  into  the    world  depraved  as  well   as  noic. 
The   same    means    of  grace    which   are    now  made 
effectual  to  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  to  the  edifi- 
cation and  comfort  of  believers,  will  then,  no  doubt, 
be  employed,  and  made  effectual  for   the  same    pur- 
poses. The  chief  point  of  difference  will  be,  that  they 
will  then,   very  seldom,  fail  of  success.     And,  surely, 
this  circumstance  will  not  be  likely  to  make  them  less 
esteemed.     But  when  it  is  said,  that,  at  that  time,  men 
shall  not  any  longer  need  to   teach  every  man  his  neigh- 
bour, and  every  man  his  brother,  saying — knoio  the  Lord, 
we  are  to  understand  the  prediction  as  meaning,  that 
Christian  light  shall  then    be  so  universally  diffused, 
that  no  part  of  the  population  of  the  globe,  shall  need 
that  instruction  in  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  as 
distino-uished  from  idols,  which  we  now  impart  to  the 
Pagan  nations. 

Perhaps  my    hearers   will  expect  me  to  say  somc- 
thino-  more   particular  than  I  have  yet  said,  as  to  the 


Jeremiah  xxxi,  34. 


28 

time  in  which  the  glorious  day  of  which  I  have  been 
speaking,  shall  be  ushered  in.  On  this  subject,  I  pro- 
fess to  know  so  little,  and  feel  myself  so  little  entitled 
to  speak  with  confidence,  that  I  shall,  of  course,  for- 
bear to  pronounce  positively.  That  it  will  arrive,  and 
before  a  long  lapse  of  time,  I  have  no  more  doubt  than 
I  have  that  the  judgment  of  the  great  day  will  arrive. 
But  perhaps  we  may  s^y  of  the  former,  as  vvc  certain- 
ly must  of  the  latter — Of  that  day,  and  of  that  hour 
Jcnoweth  no  man.  Possibly  some  of  your  children's 
children  may  see  it,  if  not  in  its  meridian  glory,  yet  in 
its  early  dawn.  But  he  that  helieveth  shall  not  make 
haste.  Let  us  patiently  wait  the  Lord's  time.  Of 
one  thing  we  may  be  certain,  that  it  will  be  brought 
on  as  fast  and  as  soon  as  infinite  Wisdom  sees  best; 
and  faster  or  sooner  no  enliofhtened  believer  would  al- 
low  himself,  for  a  moment,  to  desire.  The  vision  is 
Jor  an  appointed  time;  but,  at  the  end  it  will  speak  and 
not  lie.  Though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it,  for  it  will  surely 
come,  it  will  not  tarry.* 

But  I  ought  in  candour  to  say,  that,  before  the  mil- 
lennium can  arrive,  there  are,  I  fear,  yet  to  be  exhibit- 
ed in  our  world,  and  especially  on  the  old  Latin  Earth, 
scenes  from  which,  if  we  could  fully  anticipate  them, 
the  stoutest  heart  would  turn  away  appalled  and 
shuddering^  Yes;  scenes  of  which  to  hear,  in  the 
most  distant  manner,  will  make  the  ears  of  the  men 
of  that  generation  tingle!  The  great  day  of  the  battle 
of  God  Almighty  is  yet  to  come:  a  battle  which  must 
rage  with  peculiar  violence  on  the  site  of  that  Empire 


29 

of  persecution  and  blood,  over  which   Satan,  for   so 
many   ages,   reigned.       God    grant  that  our  beloved 
Country,  which  has  so  httle  of  the  blood  of  the  saints 
in  its  skirts,  may    be  in   a  great  measure  exempted 
from  the  horrors  of  that  awful  scene!  But,  however 
this  may  be,  let  no  marl's  heart  fail  him  on  that  account; 
nay,  let  no  effort  be  paralyzed  by  the  anticipation  ot 
the  dreadful  conflict.      For   the  elects^  sake,  it  shall  be 
shortened.     And  I   had  almost  said.   Let  christians  of 
the  present  day  be  united  and  diligent  in  doing  their 
duty, — In  spreading  the  Gospel, — and  in  besieging  the 
throne   of  grace — and    the  conflict  shall  be  made 
SHORTER  still!  And   even  amidst  the   utmost  fury  ot 
its  rage,  let  it  never  be   forgotten,  that  it  is  the  indis- 
pensable    harbinger    of    blessings    unparalleled  and 
glorious!   Again,   then,  I  say.  Let  no  man^s  heart  fail 
him   at  the  prospect.      The   Lord  of  hosts  is  with  iis; 
the  God  of  Jacob  is  our  refutre.     Selah. 
From  what  has  been  said,  we  may  learn, 
I.  How  great  a  blessing  it  is  to  be  favoured  with  the 
Gospel  of  Christ!  It   is  almost  as  incredible   as  it    is 
humiliating,  how   prone   we    are,  wlien   a   blessing  is 
familiarly  enjoyed,  to   forget  its  value,   and  to  forget 
our  obligations  for    it.     So  it  is  with  the  light  of  day. 
So  it  is  with  the  vital  air  which  we  breathe,  and  with 
our  daily  food.     And  so  it  is,  pre-eminently  with  the 
light    and  the   privileges,   of  the   Gospel.     We  have 
enjoyed  them   so  long  and   so  constantly,  that  we  are 
ready  to  consider  them,  not  only  as  matters  of  course, 
but  almost,  in  a  sort,  as  our  rio-ht.     We  foriret  that  to 
them  we  are  indebted  for  our  personal  safety,  for  our 
domestick  purity  and  peace,  and  for  our  social  order, 


30 

■  and  liapjDiness,  as  well  as  for  all  our  spiritual  knowl- 
edge and  hopes.  But,  to  correct  this  error,  let  us  often 
think  of  the  darkness  and  desolation  of  the  poor 
Pagans.  And  let  us  again  recollect  that  our  ances- 
tors WERE  ONCE  IN  THE  SAME  SITUATION.  Yes,  breth- 
ren; within  the  reach  of  authentick  history,  the  in- 
habitants of  the  British  Isles  were  miserable  savages 
and  idolaters,  offering  human  and  other  sacrifices  to 
dumb  idols,  and  sunk  in  all  the  sottish  corruption  and 
misery  of  Paganism.  Such  were  our  Fathers!  But 
God  had  mercy  on  them,  and  sent  missionaries  to 
them,  to  teach  them  the  way  of  life.  And  from  them 
the  blessing  has  been  transmitted  to  us.  Through 
the  tender  mercy  of  our  God,  the  day-spring  from  on 
high  has  visited  W5,  to  guide  our  feet  in  the  way  of  peace. 
The  lines  have  fallen  unto  us  in  pleasant  places^  yea  we 
have  a  goodly  heritage.  Blessed  are  our  eyes^for  they 
see,  and  our  ears,  for  they  hear;  for  ma7iy  prophets  and 
righteous  men  desired  to  see  the  things  which  we  see,  but 
never  saw  them,  and  to  hear  the  things  which  we  hear, 
hut  never  heard  them.  Bless  the  Lord,  0  our  souls,  and 
all  that  is  within  us,  bless  his  holy  name;  bless  the  Lord, 
O  our  souls,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits* 

2.  We  learn,  from  the  foregoing  remarks,  that  the 
cause  of  missions  is  decisively  the  most  important  and  in^ 
teresting  cause  in  the  world;  and  that  the  duty  of  pros- 
ecuting it  as  extensively  as  possible,  is,  at  once  manifest, 
and  most  imperative. 

To  show  the  unspeakable  greatness  and  importance 
of  the  cause  of  missions,  nothing  more,  I  am  persuaded, 

*  Luke i,78.    Psaltnx.\i,6.    Matt,  \ui,  16.    P*a/ni  ciii,  1,2,3. 


31 

is  necessary  before  a  christian  audience,  than  to  re- 
mind them  what  that  cause  is;  to  remind  them  that  it 
is  the  same  cause  in  which  the  eternal  counsels  ot" 
peace  were  engaged;  the  same  cause  for  which  the 
Divine  Redeemer  descended  from  heaven,  and  under- 
went all  the  humiliation  and  sufferings  of  his  incarnate 
state.  It  is  the  cause  which  has  for  its  object  the 
extension  of  the  Saviour's  reign,  and  raising  millions  of 
cur  fellow  men  from  deplorable  darkness  and  desola- 
tion, to  temporal  and  eternal  blessedness.  Yes,  it  is 
the  GREAT  CAUSE,  In  comparison  with  which  all 
OTHERS  SINK  UNTO  NOTHING.  Let  the  worldly  Philos- 
opher and  Statesman,  dazzled  with  the  artificial  splen- 
dour of  their  respective  little  worlds,  imagine  that  the 
subject  of  missions  is  a  minor  matter,  which  nothing 
but  fanaticism  magnifies  into  much  ituportance.  Alas! 
they  know  no  better.  They  are  blind  to  the  real 
character  of  this  great  object.  The  cause  which 
they  undervalue,  will,  in  a  little  while,  be  seen  and 
acknowledged  to  be  the  cause  of  God,  of  glory,  and 
of  eternity,  when  all  the  petty  plans  and  efforts 
Avhlch  now  fill  their  vision  and  their  hearts,  shall  be 
lost  m  oblivion. 

No  christian  is  at  liberty  to  consider  himself  as  dis- 
charged from  the  duty  of  aiding  in  this  great  cause. 
Every  disciple  of  Christ  under  heaven  is  bound  to  do 
ALL  IN  HIS  POWER  to  Impart  the  glad  tidings  of  salva- 
tion to  all  others  who  have  it  not.  And  never  will 
this  obligation  cease,  until  the  Gospel  has  been  actually 
preached  to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue 
and  people.  As  long  as  there  is  a  single  nation  re- 
maining Pagan,  our  efforts  to  send  them  the  Gospel,- 


32 

ought  not  to  be  abandoned,  or  even  relaxed.  Nay, 
as  long  as  a  single  individual  of  our  species  is  known 
to  be  Ignorant  of  Christ,  it  would  be  worth  while  to 
go  to  all  the  expense  and  trouble  of  circumnavigating 
the  globe,  to  carry  to  that  individual  the  knowledge 
of  salvation. 

I  am  aware  that  some  who  profess  to  love  the 
cause  of  missions,  have  seriously  questioned  the  wis- 
dom and  the  dutv  of  sendins:  missionaries  to  ^^sia.  and 
to  the  Islands  of  the  Pacifick  ocean,  while  there  re- 
main so  many  literal  heathen,  as  well  as  so  many 
destitute  frontier  settlements,  in  our  own  land,  to 
whom  the  heralds  of  salvation  are  yet  to  be  sent. 
Into  the  general  discussion  of  this  subject,  it  is  impos- 
sible, at  present,  to  enter.  A  word  or  two  only  can 
be  indulged.  It  is  manifest  that  if  the  apostles  and 
primitive  christians  had  acted  upon  the  principle  of 
these  objectors,  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  would 
have  been  much  more  slow,  and  confined  within  much 
narrower  limits,  than  it  was.  But,  blessed  be  God! 
they  did  not  act  upon  it.  They  sent  forth  mission- 
aries to  distant  regions,  passing  by,  for  a  time,  many 
waste  and  desolate  places  in  their  more  immediate 
neighbourhood;  and  establishing  a  number  of  great 
centres  of  evangelical  light  and  action  in  the  midst  of 
Satan's  empire.  This  u'as  a  wise  plan  at  that  time,  or 
else  inspired  men  would  never  have  adopted  it,  and 
it  is  a  wise  plan  still.  And,  for  myself,  I  have  no 
fear,  that  following  their  example,  will  prevent,  or, 
for  an  hour,  retard  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  among 
the  frontier  settlements,  or  the  heathen  on  our  bor- 
ders.    On  the   contrary,  I  am  persuaded,  that   from 


every  Ibrcign  missionary  station  on  which  God  is 
pleased  to  pour  out  his  spirit,  a  blessed  influence  never 
fails  to  re-act,  not  only  all  around  it,  but  also,  and  in  no 
small  degree,  upon  the  christian  population  of"  our 
own  land;  exciting  on  the  subject  of  missions  a  deeper 
interest,  and  more  fervent  prayers;  and  eventually 
calling  forth  larger  contributions,  and  more  mission- 
aries, for  doraestick  as  well  as  for  foreign  purposes. 
All  experience  demonstrates  that  we  are  never  so 
likely  to  receive  an  ample  blessing  at  home,  as  when 
we  open  our  hearts,  and  send  help  to  our  brethren 
abroad. 

My     HONOURED     AND     REVEREND      ASSOCIATES    OF    THE 

BOARD  OP  missions!  The  trust  reposed  in  us  is  solemn 
and  interesting  in  the  highest  degree!  To  be  called 
especially  and  jointly  to  engage  in  this  noblest  of  all 
causes,  is  a  privilege  and  an  honour  which  we  can 
never  adequately  prize.  If  we  made  the  estimate  of 
it  which  we  ought,  we  should  come,  every  successive 
year,  to  the  discharge  of  our  duty,  with  augmented 
pleasure  and  zeal,  and  never  think  that  we  had  done, 
©r  could  do  a  thousandth  part  enough  in  such  a  cause. 
Oh!  if  the  glorified  spirits  of  our  departed  Fellow- 
members  could  speak  to  us  from  their  mansions  of 
rest:  if  the  beloved  and  venerated  Dwight  and  Wor- 
cester could  re-visit  our  Board,  and  tell  us  what 
their  estimate  now  is  of  that  cause  in  which  they  were 
once  engaged  with  us  here; — would  it  be,  think  you,  to 
intimate  that  they  had  loved  it  too  much,  or  had  been 
more  devoted  to  it  than  it  deserved?  Oh,  no:  On  the 
contrary,  it  would  be  to  say,  that  they  now  see  in  it  an 
importance   and  a   glory   unspeakably   greater  than 


34 

I  hey  ever  saw  in  this  world;  and  to  conjure  us  to  pur- 
sue it  with  growing  ardour  and  affection. 

3.  We  may  learn  from  this  subject,  not  only  the 
importance  of  the  missionary  cause;  but  also  the  great 
encouragement  which  we  have  to  persevere  in  the  pursuit 
of  it. — We  have  the  best  encouragement  in  the  world; 
the  encouragement  derived  from  the  assurance  that 
we  shall  not  labour  in  vain.  We  know  that  it  is  a 
cause  which  must  and  will  succeed.  The  promise 
of  Him  ivho  cannot  lie  has  gone  forth:  and  will  any  one 
dare  to  say  either  that  He  cannot  or  tvill  not  accom- 
plish what  He  has  promised?  Let  us,  then,  hold  on 
our  way,  with  all  the  alacrity  and  confidence  of  those 
wdio  anticipate  a  speedy  and  a  glorious  conquest.  Let 
us  be  steadfast,  unmoveable,  always  abounding  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord^  forasmuch  as  we  know  that  our  labour 
shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord*  What  though  appa- 
rently adverse  dispensations  of  Providence  now  and 
then  occur.'*  What  though  some  of  those  missionaries, 
from  whose  labours  much  was  expected,  are  taken 
away,  prematurely  as  it  appears  to  us,  by  death?  What 
though  tliat  ample  success,  for  which  we  have  been 
waiting  and  praying,  be  delayed  longer  than  we  had 
confidently  anticipated?  Still  let  none  be  discouraged. 
The  Lord  is  not  slack  concerning  his  promise,  as  some 
men  count  slackness.  Let  us,  therefore,  be  patient.  Be- 
hold the  husbandman  waitethfor  the  precious  fruit  of  the 
earth,  and  hath  long  patience  for  it,  until  he  receive  the 
early  and  the  latter  rain.  Let  us  also  be  patient,  and 
stablish  our  hearts,  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord  draxoeth 
nigh, 

'  1  Cor,  XT,  58. 


35 


And,  while   wc  arc  thus   waiting,  let  us  remembei 
where  our  only   hope  and  encouragement  he.     Only 
in  the  power  and  faithfulness  of  our  covenant  God. 
Without  Jehovah,  the  king  of  Zlon,  ive  can  do  nothing. 
Except   the  Lord  build  the  house,  they    labour   in  vain 
that  build  it.     Unless   the  Spirit  of  God  preside  in  our 
counsels,  and  go  forth   with    those  whom  we  send,  as 
a  Spirit  of  counsel  and  of  might,  of  mderstandmg,  and 
of  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  all  that  we  attempt  will  be  in 
vain      Yes;  all  the  wisdom  which  this  age  ot  literature 
and  of  science   can  produce;  all  the  funds  which  the 
east  and  the  west,  the  north  and  the  souih  can  furnish, 
will  prove  altogether  ineffectual,  unless  the  Almighty 
kino- of  Zion^M  his   blessing.      While   we   plan  and 
labour,  then,  let  us  pray  ivithout  ceasing  for  that  bless- 
ing     Let  us  constantly  look,  and  long,  and  entreat  for 
the  display  of  that  mighty  power  of  God,  which  is,  after 
all,  our  only    hope.     Awake,  awake,  put  on  strengt.i, 
O  arm  of  the  Lord!  Awake,  as  in  the  ancient  days,  in 
the  generations  of  old.     Art  thou  not  it   that  hath  cut 
Rahab,  and  wounded  the  Dragon?  art  thou  not  it  which 
hath  dried  up  the  sea,  the  waters  of  the  great  deep;  that 
hath  made  the  depths  of  the  sea  a  way  for  the  ransomed 

to  pass  over?* 

4.  We  learn,  again,  from  what  has  been  said,  how 
great  is  the  privilege  and  the  honour  of  being  a  rnission- 
ary.  When  I  speak  of  the  honour  of  being  a  mission- 
ary, I  have  no  reference  to  the  applause  of  men;  no 
reference  to  that  sort  of  reputation  which  he  may  de- 
rive from  having  his  name  emblazoned  m  every 
Gazette  and  Magazine  and  his   labours  and  success 


36 

lauded  by  the  Reports  and  Orators  of  respectabie 
Societies.  This  is  a  kind  of  honour,  which  princi- 
ples greatly  inferiour  to  those  of  Christianity  ought  to 
teach  every  man  to  value  at  a  very  low  rate.  But  I 
speak  of  honours  infinitely  more  valuable;  honours 
which,  though  they  have  nothing  attractive  or  desir- 
able in  the  eyes  of  an  unbelieving  world,  will  be  esti- 
mated above  all  price  by  men  of  true  wisdom; — the 
honour  of  receiving  the  approbation  of  God — the 
honour  of  being  employed  as  instruments  to  build  up 
his  kingdom,  and  promote  his  glory.  These  are  the 
honours,  my  respected  and  beloved  young  Friends, 
who  are  this  day  to  be  set  apart  for  missionary  work, 
— these  are  the  honours  which,  I  trust,  will  be  yours. 
You  are  going  forth  to  attempt,  as  God  shall  enable 
you,  to  ^hepair  the  waste  places,''^  to  build  up  the  '"'desola- 
tions of  many  generations.^''  You  are  going  forth  to  be, 
as  your  Master  was,  the  restorers  of  paths  to  dwell  in. 
The  predecessors  of  all  those  to  whom  you  are  about 
to  be  sent  once  enjoyed  the  true  Religion,  or  had  it 
placed  within  their  reach.  But  they  rejected  the 
precious  offering,  and  sunk  down  into  darkness,  cor- 
ruption and  misery.  You  go,  if,  haply,  you  may  be 
made,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  instrumental  in  raising 
them  from  their  degradation,  pouring  light  on  their 
darkness,  comforting  them  in  their  sorrows,  delivering 
them  from  their  old  desolations;  in  a  word,  teaching 
them  how  to  be  happy  in  this  world,  and  eternally 
blessed  in  the  world  to  come.  What  a  noble,  what  a 
delightful,  what  a  godlike  employment  is  here!  and 
yet  how  arduous!  Who  is  svjicicnt  for  these  thingsP 
If  jou  desire,  in  any  measure  to  attain  the  object  for 


37 

which  vou  are  sent,  be  careful  to  carry,  wherever  you 
go,  the  pure  Gospel.  Know  nothing  bvt  Jesus  Christ 
and  him  crucified.  Hold  forth.,  with  simplicity  and 
fidelity,  the  word  of  life.  And,  having  done  this,  place 
all  your  reliance  on  the  power  of  God  to  crown  your 
work  with  success.  Paid  may  plant,  and  ^^poUos 
•may  water,  but  God  giveth  the  increase.  JVeither  is  he 
that  planteth  any  thing,  nor  he  that  watereth  any  things 
but  God  that  u-iveth  the  increase.*  Difficulties  and 
trials  will  certainly  await  you.  Nothing  great  or 
precious,  in  this  lost  world,  was  ever  accomplished 
without  them.  But  if  they  are  made  the  means  of 
keeping  you  more  humble,  and  nearer  to  God,  they 
will  become,  however  painful,  the  means  of  promoting 
the  grand  object  which  you  seek — the  furtherance  of 
the  Gospel. — Go  in  peace;  and  may  the  God  of  love 
and  of  peace  go  with  you! 

5.  Finally;  while  we  are  taking  measures  for  sending 
the  Gospel  to  others,  have  we  all  embraced  it  practically 
and  savingly  for  ourselves? 

We  have  heard  of  great  things,  my  friends,  which 
God  will  certainly  accomplish  for  his  church.  But 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  that  before  they  can 
be  completely  accomplished,  all  of  us,  who  are  now 
seated  before  the  Lord,  shall  have  gone  to  judgment, 
arid  have  entered  on  our  eternal  state.  Are  we  pre- 
pared for  that  judgment.'^  We  speak  much,  and  we, 
perhaps,  give  something,  for  sending  the  Gospel  to  the 
heathen;  but  are  there  no  heathen  in  this  audience:^ 
O,  my  fellow  mortals!  that  very  Saviour  whom  we 
wish  to  proclaim  to  the  benighted  nations,  must  be 

*  1  Cor.  iiij  5,6,7, 


38 

cordially  embraced  by  tts^j  or  we  shall  never  see  life. 
That  same  pardoning  mercy  and  sanctifying  grace, 
•which  we  are  desirous  of  having  preached  in  the  dark 
places  of  the  earth,  must  be  experimentally  known  by 
us,  or  we  shall  die  in  our  sins.  All  our  privileges, 
however  rich  and  various,  will  fall  utterly  short  of 
saving  us.  Saving  us,  did  I  say?  If  not  practically 
improved,  they  will  but  sink  us  into  a  deeper  perdi- 
tion than  we  should  have  incurred  if  we  had  never 
enjoyed  them.  We  must  be  luashcd,  and  justified,  and 
sanctified,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  spirit 
of  our  God.  Then,  if  we  die  before  the  millennium 
arrives,  it  will  be  to  goto  a  brighter  and  better  world, 
than  even  millennial  glory  can  render  this  theatre  of 
rebellion  and  sutfering.  Then,  from  the  heights  of 
the  Upper  Sanctuary,  we  shall  look  down  on  the 
Saviour's  triumphs  here  below,  with  joy  unspeakable 
andfidl  of  glory.  In  the  mean  time,  let  us  aspire  to  the 
honour  of  hemgicorkers  together  with  God,  in  hastening 
on  those  triumphs.  Let  the  language  of  our  hearts, 
and  of  our  conduct,  as  well  as  of  our  lips,  unceasingly 
be — Come,  Lord  Jesus!  come  ciuickly;  even  so  come, 
Lord  Jesus!    Amen. 


CHARGE,  y 

BY    THE    REV.    ABEL    FLINT,    D.I). 


OF  HARTFORD. 


On  me  is  devolved,  by  vote  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Council,  con- 
vened on  this  solemn  and  interesting  occasion,  the  duty  of  giving 
a  Charge  to  these  persons  who  have  been  ordained  to  the  work 
of  the  gospel  ministry,  with  particular  reference  to  their  acting  as 
Evangelists.  Although  the  Charge  is  to  be  addressed  to  them, 
more  immediately,  yet  all  persons  present  mrty  receive  instruction. 
All  who  have  been  called  to  minister  in  holy  things  will  be  re- 
minded of  the  solemn  obligations  lying  upon  them;  and  of  the  im- 
portance of  fidelity  in  the  service  of  their  great  Master.  And, 
from  hearing  the  injunctions  given  to  these  ministers  of  Christ, 
other  persons  will  learn  the  arduousness  of  their  ofhce;  and  will 
thence  see  the  great  importance  of  commending  them,  and  all  the 
other  Ambassadors  of  Christ,  by  earnest  prayer,  to  him  who  alone 
can  enable  them  so  to  discharge  their  duty,  as  to  be  blessings  to 
their  fellow  men.  From  viewing  the  nature  of  that  treasure, 
which  is  committed  to  earthen  vessels,  all  this  assembly  will  see, 
that  the  excellency  of  the  power  must  be  of  God,  and  not  of  man. 
They  will  also  see,  that  while  it  behoves  ministers  to  be  faithful, 
it  is  also  incumbent  on  all  people  to  help  them,  by  their  prayers, 
and  in  all  other  ways  in  their  power.  Attend,  then,  my  hearers, 
to  the  Address  to  be  delivered  to  these  servants  of  Christ. 

Reverekd  an'd  dear  Sirs, 

The  office  to  which  you  have  now  been  inducted,  by 
prayer  and  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  Presbytery,  is  de- 
signated, in    the  holy  Scriptures,  by  a  variety  of  names,  each  of 


40 

which  suggests  appropriate  duties,  connected  witlithe  office.  To 
some  of  those  names,  with  their  correspondent  duties,  permit  me, 
speaking  in  the  name  of  the  Council,  to  call  your  attention,  as  in 
the  presence  of  God,  of  the  holy  angels,  and  of  this  assembly. 

As  Ambassadors  for  Christ,  the  prince  of  peace,  we  charge  you 
to  beseech  sinners,  whenever  you  shall  have  an  opportunity  to 
address  them,  to  become  reconciled  to  God.  Urge  them  to  lay 
aside  the  weapons  of  their  rebellion,  and  to  submit,  unreservedly, 
to  their  lawful  sovereign.  Point  out,  explicitly,  the  terms  wtich 
God  has  proposed.  Testify  repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Show  to  sinners  God's  readiness  to  receive 
them,  on  their  complying  with  his  terms.  Set  before  them  the 
danger  of  their  situation;  and  exhort  them  to  believe  and  be 
saved. 

As  Ministers  and  Servants  of  Christ,  we  charge  you  to  evince 
fidelity  in  this  service.  Endeavour  to  perform  the  various  duties 
of  the  ministerial  office,  as  you  shall  have  opportunity,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  approve  yourselves  to  him.  Be  assiduous  in  devis- 
ing and  executing  plans  to  promote  the  cause  of  your  divine 
Master;  and,  should  you  ever  be  called  to  set  apart  others  to  this 
work,  examine  carefully  into  their  qualifications,  and  lay  hands 
suddenly  on  no  man. 

As  Stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God,  we  charge  you  to  be 
found  faithful.  Observe  all  the  institutions  appointed  by  the  great 
head  of  the  Church.  Preach  the  word; — be  instant  in  season  and 
out  of  season; — administer,  whenever  called  to  the  service,  the 
sealing  ordinances  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper;  the  latter  to 
visible  believers,  and  the  former  to  them  and  their  infiint  seed. 
Attend,  also,  as  you  may  have  occasion,  to  the  discipline  of  Christ's 
liouse;  but  always  do  it  in  a  spirit  of  meekness  and  love,  with 
earnest  prayer  to  God,  that  offenders  may  be  reclaimed. 

As  Teachers,  we  charge  you  to  preach  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  and  not  shun  to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God.  Insist 
much  upon  the  depravity  and  moral  impotence  of  sinners, — upon 
the  divinity  and  atonement  of  Christ, — upon  the  necessity  of 
special  divine  influences  to  renew  the  heart  of  man  to  holiness, 
and  upon  all  the  doctrines,  with  which  those  mentioned  are  inti- 
mately connected,  and  which  are  called,  by  way  of  distinction,  the 
docUmes  of  grace.     To  fit  yourselves  for   this,  be  men  of  study. 


41 

so  far  as  your  situation  will  admit: — give  attendance  to  reading,  to 
exhortation,  to  doctrine; — meditate  upon  these  things,  and  give 
yourselves  wholly  to  them,  that  your  protiting  may  appear  to  all. 

As  Shepherds,  we  charge  you  to  feed  Christ's  sheep  and  iambs, 
wherever  you  can  tind  them.  Nourish  them  with  sound  doctrine, 
and  administer  to  them  the  consolations  of  the  GospHJ,  according 
to  their  necessities.  Strengthen  the  diseased,  heal  that  which  is 
sick, — bind  up  that  which  is  broken, — bring  again  that  which  is 
driven  away, — and  seek  that  which  is  lost.  Look  out  those  which 
are  scattered  upon  the  dark  mountains  whither  you  are  to  go,  and 
bring  them  into  the  fold  of  Christ. 

Should  you  ever  be  called  to  act  as  Overseers  or  Bishops  of  par- 
ticular Churches,  we  charge  you  to  take  the  oversight  thereof 
willingly,  and  of  a  ready  mind,  not  as  lording  it  over  God's 
heritage,  but  as  being  examples  to  the  flock.  Let  their  spiritual 
interests  ever  lie  near  your  hearts,  and  be  assiduous  in  your  en- 
deavours to  promote  the  same.  Watch  over  them  in  the  Lord. 
Adapt  your  ministrations  to  their  particular  circumstances.  Teach 
ihem,  not  only  publicly,  but  from  house  to  house.  Counsel,  warn, 
and  exhort  them.  Visit  them  in  their  afflictions; — comfort  them 
under  their  trials; — show  them,  in  your  public  labours,  and  in  your 
private  intercourse  with  them,  that  you  seek  not  theirs  but  them; 
— and  in  all  your  addresses  to  him  who  is  the  hearer  of  prayer, 
remember  your  people,  and  supplicate  for  them  spiritual  and 
temporal  blessings,  suited  to  theirneeds. 

As  Elders,  we  charge  you  to  be  grave  and  prudent,  examples 
to  believers  in  word,  in  conversation,  in  charity,  in  spirit,  in  faith, 
in  purity.  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  and  to  the  ministry  which 
you  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Look  well  to  the  state  of 
your  hearts;  and  be  careful  that,  in  all  your  conduct  and  conversa- 
tion, you  show  a  becoming  regard  to  that  religion  which  you  are 
to  preach  to  others. 

Beloved  brethren,  The  remarks  hitherto  made,  would  be  ap- 
plicable to  you,  were  you  to  remain  in  the  land  of  your  nativitj', 
and  to  act  as  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  countries  where  the  pure 
light  of  Christianity  has  long  shone.  But  in  the  Providence  ol' 
God,  you  are  destined  for  other  regions;  two  of  you  to  Islands  in 
the  great  Pacific,  the  inhabitants  of  which  have  never,  until  recent- 
ly, had  any  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  nor  heard  of  that  Saviour, 
6 


42 

through  whom  alone  any  can  obtain  eternal  lite;  and  the  other  one 
of  you  to  that  land  which  was  once  the  land  of  premise, — to  that 
country,  where  Jesus,  the  divine  Saviour,  suffered,  bled,  and  died; 
but  whose  wretched  and  miserable  inhabitants,  either  reject  him 
wholly,  or  have  not  that  knowledge  of  him  which  his  holy  word 
teaches. — Permit  me,  therefore,  in  the  name  of  the  Council,  to 
address  you  as  Evajjgelists. 

As  such,  we  charge  you  to  go  forth,  in  the  exercise  of  that 
spirit,  which  animated  the  primitive  heralds  of  the  cross.  Go  to 
the  scattered  Tribes  of  Israel, — goto  the  deluded  followers  of  the 
Prophet  of  Arabia, — go  to  the  semi-christians  of  Palestine, — go  to 
the  blinded  Pagans,  wherever  God,  in  his  Providence,  shall  call 
you,  and  proclaim  glad  tidings  of  salvation  through  a  Redeemer. 
Go,  teach  guilty  men  that  they  are  sinners,  that  they  need  a 
Saviour, — that  they  must  perish  without  him;  and  that  there  is  no 
other  name  given  under  heaven,  whereby  any  can  be  saved,  but 
the  name  of  Jesus. — Go,  reach  forth  a  hand  to  pluck  your 
fellow  men  from  the  pit  of  destruction.  As  opportunity  shall  pre- 
sent, do  the  work  of  Evangelists,  braving  the  dangers,  encounter- 
ing the  trials,  and  patiently  enduring  the  labors  to  which  your 
divine  master  shall  call  you.  And  remember,  for  your  encourage- 
ment, that  gracious  promise  made  to  his  primitive  disciples,  and 
made  also  to  yon,  '-Lo,  I  am  with  you  always."  Supported  by 
that  promise,  go  forth,  brethren,  and  exert  yourselves  in  ditfusing 
a  knowledge  of  salvation.  Perform  the  arduous  duties  of  Mission- 
aries, as  occasion  shall  call  for  them,  and  as  3  ou  shall  have  oppor- 
tunity to  discharge  them.  And  if,  through  your  instrumentality, 
but  one  erring  mortal  shall  be  brought  to  a  knowledge  and  love 
of  the  truth,  great  will  be  your  reward  in  heaven.  May  the 
blessing  of  God  attend  you.  May  the  augel  of  the  covenant  be 
with  you.  And  may  many,  in  a  future  world,  look  back,  and 
recognize  you  a«,  under  God,  the  instruments  of  their  everlasting 
salvation. 


RIGHT  HAND  OF  FELLOWSHIP, 

BY  THE  REV.  JOEL  IIAWE3,  OF  HARTFORD. 


To  us,  beloved  brethren,  but  especially  to  you,  the  present  is  an 
occasion  of  deep  and  tender  interest.  To  day  God  is  granting;  you 
the  desire  of  your  hearts.  The  work,  to  which  you  are  now  con- 
secrated, has  long  engaged  your  rellections  and  your  prayers. 
You  have  surveyed  the  condition  of  the  benighted  heathen,  and 
have  pitied  them;  you  have  heard  the  command  of  the  Savior, — 
Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  pi'eacli  the  gospel  to  every  creature, 
and  have  felt  it  to  be  addressed  to  you;  you  have  fixed  your  eye 
on  the  promise  of  G.d  that  the  whole  earth  shall  yet  be  filled  with 
his  praise,  and  moved,  as  we  trust,  by  an  impulse  from  above,  you 
have  desired  to  bear  some  humble  part  in  accomplishing  this 
glorious  work.  And  here,  in  the  presence  of  earth  and  heaven, 
you  have  been  constituted  ministers  of  Christ  and  heralds  of  salva- 
tion, to  those  who  are  sitting  in  the  region  and  shadow  of  death. 
By  the  solemnities  of  this  day  you  are  all  separated  from  the  secu- 
lar employments  and  pursuits  of  the  world;  from  your  countr}',  your 
kindred  and  your  homes;  from  all  the  endearments  and  privileges 
of  a  christian  and  civilized  societ}',  that  you  may  go  far  hence  to 
preach  Christ  to  the  heathen.  The  work,  brethren,  to  which 
you  are  devoted,  is  great  and  difficult.  It  will  require,  on  your 
part,  peculiar  fortitude,  patience,  and  self  denial;  peculiar  wisdom, 
prudence,  perseverance  and  prayer.  But  with  all  its  sacrifices 
and  trials,  it  is  a  glorious  and  most  desirable  work — a  work  in 
which  apostles  and  martyrs  deemed  it  an  unspeakable  privilege  to 
be  employed,  and  which,  we  are  confident,  will  awaken  a  deeper 
and  still  deeper  interest  among  the  friends  of  Christ,  till  all  who 
dwell  on  earth  shall  know  and  love  his  precious  name. 


46 

Go  then,  dear  brethren,  and  may  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God 
go  with  you.  You  will  have  the  sympathies  and  prayers  of  all  who 
love  Zion;  and  sustained  by  his  arm  who  has  said,  lo  I  am  with 
you  alway  even  unto  the  end,  you  will  be  steadfast,  unmoveable, 
always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  The  Lord  keep  you 
and  bless  you;  and  when  this  warfare  shall  be  accomplished,  may 
he  bring  us  all  together  into  that  kingdom,  where  our  communion 
and  our  joy  shall  be  perfected  forever. 


BRIEF  VIEW  OF  THE  MISSIONS 

VXDER  THE  DIRECTION  OF   THE  AMERICAN  BOARD   OF  COMMISSIONERS 
FOR  FOREIGN  MISSIONS,  COMPILED  OC  1  OBER,  1822. 


The  Board  ivas  instituted  in  June,  1810;  and  incorporated  June  20, 1812. 

•TEREMIAH  EVARTS.  Esq.  at  the  Missionary  Rooms,  No.  69,  Market  Street,  Boston,  is 
Corresponding  Secretary  oftlie  Board;  and  Clerk  of  the  Prudential  Committee.  To  Iiini  should 
be  addi-essed  all  commuuiealions,  which  relate  to  the  appointment  of  missionaries  and  assistants, 
and  to  the  (general  concerns  of  the  Board. 

HENRY  HILL,  Esq.  at  the  Missionaiy  Rooms,  is  Treasurer;  to  whom  all  letters,  ■v\hich 
relate  to  donations,  or  to  any  pecuniary  concerns  of  the  Board,  should  be  addressed. 

I.  MISSION  AT  BOMBAY. 

This  mission  became  fixed  in  1814.  The  missionaries  are  engaged  in  three 
principal  objects: — the  translation  of  tlie  Scriptures;  the  superintendence  of 
schools;  and  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel. — The  mission  has  three  stations; — 
Bombay,  Mahim,  and  Tannah. 

Bombay. — A  large  city  on  an  island  of  the  same  name.  It  is  the  capital  of  all 
the  British  possessions  on  the  western  side  of  the  peninsula,  and  is  the  primary 
seat  of  the  mission. 

Rev.  Gordon  Hall,  Missionary;  Jlr.  James  Garrett,  Printer.  The  widow  of  the  late  Mr. 
Newell  resides  here. 

Mahim. — Sis  miles  from  Bombay,  on  the  north  part  of  the  island. 

Rev.  Allen  Graves,  Missionary. 

Tannah. — The  principal  town  of  the  island  of  Salsette,25  miles  from  Bombay. 

Rev.  John  Nichols,  Missionary. 

The  missionaries  had  established  25  schools;— 17  on  the  islands  of  Bombay  and  Salsette;  and  S, 
at  as  many  different  placts  along  one  hundred  miles  of  the  adjacent  coast.  But  of  these  25 
schools,  thej-  were  obliged  to  suspend  10,  about  the  middle  of  last  year,  for  want  of  funds.  The 
schools  contain,  on  an  average,  about  50  seho'ai-s. — The  missionaries  are  now  ready  to  print  the 
whole  Bible,  translated  by  tiiem  into  the  Jlaliratta  language,  as  fast  as  tlie  means  can  be  pro- 
cured. 

II.  MISSION  IN  CEYLON. 

This  mission  was  established  in  the  district  of  Jaffna,  October,  1816.  It  has  five 
stations; — Tillipally,  Batticotta,  Oodooville,  Pantliteripo,  and  Manepy. 

TiLLiPALLT — Nine  miles  north  of  Jaffnapatara 

Rev.  James  Richards  and  Rev.  Daniel  Poor,  Missiojiaries.  Nicholas  Permander,  Native 
Preacher. 

Batticotta. — Si.v  miles  north-west  of  Jaffnapatara. 

Rev.  Benjamin  C.  Meigs, and  Rev.  Hemy  Woodward,  Missionaries,  Gabriel  Tissera, 
Native  Teacher, 

OoDooTiLLE.— Five  miles  north  of  Jaffnapatam. 
Rev.  Miron  Winslow,  Missionary,  Francis  Malleappa,  Native  Preacher^ 

PANniTERipo.— Nine  mil-s  nortli-west  of  Jaftnapatam. 
Rev.  Joint  Scudder,  M.  D.  Missionary. 

Manrpy — Four  miles  and  a  half  north-west  of  Jaffnapatam, 
R.ev.  Levi  Sjiaulding.  Missionary.    Philip  Matthew,  Native  Preacher. 

The  blessing  of  God  has  attended  the  labors  of  the  missionaries  among  the  voulhs  in  the 
schools;  especially  at  Tillipally,  wlierc  those  who  had  been  longest  in  the  schools  principallv 
resided.  A  sileut,  but  perceptible,  inlhiencc  is  also  eserttdon  nianv  naiives  in  the  dislrici  oV 
Jalfua. 


48  MISSIONARY'    STATIONS. 

III.  MISSION   AMONG  THE  CHEUOKEES. 

This  mis-ion  was  cstablislied  in  1817.  It  has  three  stations; — Braiocrd,  Creek- 
I'atli,  .iiul  Taloiiey;  and  new  stations  are  contemplated  at  lligli-  I'ower,  Ciiatooga, 
Wills-Town,  and  other  places. 

Bhaixehh. — Is  the  oldest  station  of  the  Board  among  the  Indians;  and  is 
situated  within  the  chartered  limits  of  'I'ennessee,  on  the  Chickamaugah  creek, 
250  miles  N.  W.of  Augusta;  150  S   E.  of  Nashv'ille;  andllOt^.  W.of  Knoxville. 

Rev.  Ard  Hoyt,  Rev.  Daniel  S.  nutrick.  and  Rev.  William  Chamberlain.  AfmMji/i/vci-;  Dr. 
Elizur  Butler,  Phi/i-ician;  Messrs.  Abijah  Conjjar,  John  Vail,  John  C.  Ellswoitli,  Ei-aslus  Dean, 
Sylvester  Ellis,  aiid  Ainswortli  E.  Blunt,  Assistant  Missionaries;  and  Jolm  Arch,  a  con- 
verted Cherokee,  Interpreter. 

Creek-path.— -100  miles  W.  S.  VV.  of  Braineid.  A  school  was  established 
herein  April,  18'20. 

Rev.  William  Potter,  Missionary, 

Taloxet. — Sixty  miles  S.  E.  of  Brainerd.  A  school  was  established  here  in 
M.iy,  1820. 

Messrs.  Jloody  Hall  and  Heni7  Parker,  Assistant  Missionaries. 

IV.  MISSION  AMONG  THE  CHOCTAVVS. 

Commenced  at  Elliot,  in  August,  1818.  It  has  three  stations; — Elliot,  Mayhew, 
and  the  French  Camps. 

EtiioT. — Within  the  chartered  limits  of  llie  state  of  Mississippi;  on  the 
Yalo  Busha  creek:  about  30  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Yazoo;  400 
W.    S.    W.of  Brainerd;  and  145  from  the  Wa'inut  Hills. 

Mr.  Cntus  Bying'ton.  Licenser/  Preacher  nn:lMissinnnr'j;  Dr.  William  W.  Pride,  Physician; 
and  Messrs.  Moses  Jewell,  Joel  \Voo<l,  Anson  Dyer,  Zechari;th  Howes,  John  Siuith,  and  Elijah 
Bardwell,  Assistant  Missio7iaries. 

Mathew. — On  the  Ooktih-be-I»a  creek,  12  miles  above  its  junction  with  tlie 
Tombigbee,  and  lot)  east  of  Elliot.    Commenced  in  the  spring  of  1820, 

Rev.  Cyrus  KinpTibiny  and  Rev.  Alfred  Wright,  Missionaries;  and  Messrs.  Calvin  Cnshman, 
William  Hooper,  Samuel  Wisner,  Philo  P.  Stewart,  and  David  Remington,  ^hsistant  Mission- 
aries. 

FREJfCH  CAMPS. — A  settlement  on  the  Natches  road,  south-west  of  Mayhew. 
Mr.  LoringS.  Williams,  Assistant  Missionary. 

V.  MISSION  AMONG  THE  CHEROKEES  OF  THE  ARK.\NSAW. 

Commenced  in  1820.    There  is  only  the  station  of 

DwiRHT. —  On  the  west  side  of  Illinois  creek;  4  miles  north  of  the  Arkansaw 
liver;  200  miles  from  the  Arkansaw  Fost;  and  500  up  the  Arkansaw,  following 
the  course  of  the  river. 

Rev.  Alfred  Finney  and  Rev.  Cephas  Washburn,  jVmiO!ifln«;  and  Messrs.  Jacob  Hitchcock 
and  James  Orr,  Assistant  Misiionarics. 

VI.  MISSION  AT  THE  SANDWICH  ISL.\NDS. 

Established  in  April,  1820.     It  has  two  stations; — Hanaronrah,  and  Wymai. 

IIaxatiootiaii  — On  the  island  of  Woahoo. 

Rev.  Hiram  Bingham  and  Rev.  Asa  Thurston,  Missionaries;  Messrs.  Daniel  Cliimberli'.in 
and  Elisha  Loomis,  Assistant  Missionaries;  and  Thomas  Hopoo  and  Jolui  Honooree.  Native 
Assistants. 

Wtmat On  the  island  of  Atooi. 

Messrs.  Samuel  Whitney  and  Samuel  Ruggles,  Assistant  Missionaries;  and  George  Sandisicli, 
S'ative  Assistant. 

VH.  MISSION  TO  PALESTINE. 

The  first  missionaries  arrived  at  Smyrna  in  January,  1820. 

Rev.  Pliny  Fisk  and  Rev.  Daniel  Temple,  Missionaries. 

Most  of  tlie  foregoing  missionaries,  and  assistant  missionaries,  have  wives.  At  several  statiopi 
tntong  the  Indians,  there  are  uinaarried  females,  laboring  as  leachei-s  and  domestic  helpers. 


fmA 

tjB^H 

•1 

■  .''     -^ 

■* 

'*.^ 

■  -IR. 

w^' 

1l^ 

» 

si 

